Strategic planning

‘Schools and educators are increasingly finding themselves operating beyond capacity. Like a web browser with way too many tabs open – we are overloaded. Simply adding more “good things” won't fix this.’ Our latest reader submission shares how ‘pruning’ programs and activities can help schools create space for what matters most.

It’s a special, bumper episode of School Assembly as Teacher Editor Jo Earp chats to Dan McShea about setting the teaching direction, and also checks in on Ray Boyd and Rachael Lehr, who we followed in Series 1, and Series 2 principal Jo Camozatto to find out what’s been happening at their schools.

In Series 3 of School Assembly we’ve been following Dan McShea, Foundation Principal of Notre Dame College on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. The P-12 college opens for the new school year in early 2025 – so it’s almost time for the keys to be handed over. In this episode we’re talking about the school building, landscaping and outdoor spaces.

In this Teacher Awards 2024 winners’ profile, we chat with the executive team at Cessnock High School in NSW. Winners of our Leadership Award for Driving School Improvement, we hear about how they’ve transformed school culture and improved academic achievement.

School Assembly is the podcast series that explores what it takes to build a school from the ground up. In this episode we catch up with Notre Dame College Principal Dan McShea to talk about crafting the school vision, mission and motto.

In this Q&A, we speak to Kirsten Hodgson and Bryan Kilkenny from St Monica’s College about their approach to explicit instruction, how they use professional learning to support staff in shifting their practice, and what they’ve learned from visiting other schools that have undertaken a similar journey.

We’re joined by Professor David Hopkins ahead of his keynote at ACER’s Research Conference 2025, titled ‘Unleashing Greatness – A Strategy for School Improvement’. Our conversation zeros in on one of the 8 steps of his strategy, instructional leadership, and includes practical pointers and plenty to reflect on in relation to your own context and practice.

As a teacher or school leader, what are the mental health needs of your students? How do you promote mental health and wellbeing? What would a whole-school approach look like in your own context? Educational and Developmental Psychologist Dr Jane Kirkham shares details of an organisational tool called the ‘Wellbeing Tree’.

In Series 3 of our School Assembly podcast, we’re following Dan McShea – Foundation Principal of the new P-12 Notre Dame College on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Episode 2 is all about student enrolments – from juggling the many enrolment interviews, to some eye-catching ways of selling a vision for a school that doesn’t exist yet.

From the uniform and building names to community consultation and learning, Aboriginal perspectives and culture is woven into the fabric of Googong Public School. Teacher speaks to principal Rebekah Lindsay, a 2024 NAIDOC Teacher of the Year Award winner, about their approach and the success it’s bringing.